FOR the first time in months, Mariners goalkeeper Paul Izzo is happy to talk about his side’s 36-game streak without keeping a clean sheet.

Tom Smithies

News Corp AustraliaDecember 2, 20167:25am

Mariners keeper Paul Izzo makes a save. Picture: AAPSource:AAP

FOR the first time in months, Mariners goalkeeper Paul Izzo is happy to talk about his side’s 36-game streak without keeping a clean sheet — because it’s finally over.

Now Central Coast have another record in their sights, as they seek to achieve consecutive wins for the first time since April 2014. Keeping a second clean sheet in a row, after defeating Perth 2-0 last weekend, would take Paul Okon’s side a long way to achieving that goal, against a Wanderers side surprisingly positioned one place below the Mariners.

The 20-year-old has seen off the arrival of the experienced Ivan Necevski to earn Okon’s trust.

“It was good to get the monkey off the back (by keeping a clean sheet), but more importantly we won the game, that’s the bigger picture,” said Izzo. “At the end of the day what we want to do is score goals and keep clean sheets.

“The win is a sign of how things are changing around here and the style we’ve got going on is completely different. To concede and only win 2-1 (last week) would have been a massive difference. It was reward for all the hard work we’ve put in this season and even in pre-season. It was frustrating hearing about the record every single game, and I’m glad they can talk about something else now.”

Mariners keeper Paul Izzo makes a save. Picture: AAPSource:AAP

The hiatus of more than 900 days since last winning twice in a row is another sign of the depths the Mariners have sunk to in recent times, and Izzo said being written off had helped to galvanise the squad.

“To win again would be massive for us — we had an opportunity against Wellington a few weeks ago and things didn’t go our way,” he said. “At the start of the season we had massive motivation to prove everyone wrong. We’re slowly, slowly doing that, but the job’s not done yet- it’s still early in the season.

“Winning again would be a great way to make a statement, and cement our place in the top six. But the Wanderers have a lot of dangerous players in their front three and their midfield. We have to avoid giving away anything cheap because they can punish us.

“They’ve been playing very well and it’s unfortunate that results haven’t gone their way. But hopefully that doesn’t break against us and it should be a great game.”